We exploit a unique setting in which two professionals compete in a real-life tennis contest with high monetary rewards in order to assess how men and women respond to competitive pressure. Comparing their performance in low-stakes versus high-stakes situations, we find that men consistently...

Gender differences in tennis have sparked a great deal of heated debate. Using data from the 24 top men's and 23 top women's singles tournaments in 2010 we find a gender difference in the competitiveness (tightness) with regard to the final score of tennis sets. However, when using two physical...

We exploit a unique setting in which two professionals compete in a real-life tennis contest with high monetary rewards in order to assess how men and women respond to competitive pressure. Comparing their performance in low-stakes versus high-stakes situations, we find that men consistently...